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AMERICAN SOFTWOODS MEXICO OFFICE
Costa Rica Trade Servicing and EXPO Construcción y Vivienda Trade Show
February 15th‐19th, 2014
María Fernanda Vale G. American Softwoods Mexico City, Representative Charlie Barnes APA, Director International Marketing Crystal Colliers SFPA Consultant Ximena Correa Boise Cascade Hector Dimas Boise Cascade Gary Fallin Canfor Brent Henning Putnam Lumber� Greg Fitz Balfour Lumber Adriana Arroyave Gulf South Forest Products Annette Vega Tampa International Purpose of Trade Servicing: Participate in the 2014 Edition of the EXPO Construcción y Vivienda Tradeshow in Costa Rica, promoting US softwoods lumber and panels for all the local suppliers for different applications.
Itinerary of the trade servicing: Sunday, Feb 16: Crystal Collier arrives to Costa Rica.
Monday, Feb 17: Register for Expo and booth setup.
Tuesday, Feb 18: Charlie Barnes, Fernanda Vale, Greg Fitz, Adriana Arroyave, Annette Vega arrived to Costa Rica, and booth setup.
Wednesday, Feb 19: Trade servicing to visit COBOS CR and exhibit at the tradeshow and Brent Henning, Hector Dimas, Ximena Correa arrive to Costa Rica.
Thursday, Feb 20: Trade Servicing with Abonos Agro and exhibit at the trade show.
Friday, Feb 21: Trade servicing to visit Mapro Costa Rica exhibit at the tradeshow and Adriana Arroyave departs
Saturday, Feb 22: Exhibit at the tradeshow and Hector Dimas and Ximena Correa travel back home.
Sunday, Feb 23: Exhibit at the tradeshow and Charlie Barnes, Fernanda Vale, Greg Fitz, Annette Vega, and Brent Henning travel back home.
Monday, Feb 24: Crystal Collier travels back home.
Summary of Activities, Findings and Conclusion
Costa Rica situation
COBOS IKO
El Lagar, Abonos Agro
MAPRO
Expo Construccion y Vivienda 2014 Tradeshow
Key contacts
Costa Rica This year, as a follow up of last year, we had the opportunity to get in contact with lumber distributors, builders and architects and we realized that there is a great need for educational seminars, not only among all of the above, but also hardware stores. The seminars will make it easier for AMSO members to sell their products in Costa Rica. According to the CIA World Fact Book, Costa Rica –prior to the world recession– enjoyed a stable economic growth. The economy contracted 1.3% in 2009 but resumed growth at about 4.5% per year in the 2010‐to‐2012 period. While the traditional agricultural exports of bananas, coffee, sugar, and beef are still the backbone of commodity export trade, a variety of industrial and specialized agricultural products have broadened export trade in recent years. High value‐added goods and services, including microchips, have further bolstered exports. Tourism continues to bring in foreign exchange, as Costa Rica's impressive biodiversity makes it a key destination for ecotourism. Foreign investors remain attracted by the country's political stability and relatively high education levels, as well as the incentives
offered in the free‐trade zones; and Costa Rica has attracted one of the highest levels of foreign direct investment per capita in Latin America. However, many business impediments remain, such as high levels of bureaucracy, legal uncertainty due to overlapping and at times conflicting responsibilities between agencies, difficulty of enforcing contracts, and weak investor protection system. Poverty has remained around 20‐25% for nearly 20 years, and the strong social safety net that had been put into place by the government has eroded due to increased financial constraints on government expenditures. Unlike the rest of Central America, Costa Rica is not highly dependent on remittances as they only represent about 2% of GDP. Immigration from Nicaragua has increasingly become a concern for the government. The estimated 300,000‐500,000 Nicaraguans in Costa Rica legally and illegally are an important source of mostly unskilled labor but also place heavy demands on the social welfare system. The US‐Central American‐Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA‐DR) entered into force on 1 January 2009 after significant delays within the Costa Rican legislature. CAFTA‐DR has increased foreign direct investment in key sectors of the economy, including the insurance and telecommunications sectors recently opened to private investors. President Chinchilla was not able to gain legislative approval for fiscal reform, her top priority, though she continued to pursue fiscal reform in 2012. President Chinchilla and his party were successful in passing a tax on corporations to fund an increase for security services.
According to The OECD Development Centre, Costa Rican FDI strategy has proven highly successful. FDI flows led to profound changes in the country’s trade specialization. Costa Rica evolved from an export structure, which was highly concentrated on agricultural products and textiles and garments to a more diversified export structure with new, more knowledge‐ and technology‐intensive products. Costa Rica provides an interesting case
of a country that has managed to foster structural change and development by focusing on FDI attraction. Costa Rica has transformed from a primary‐sector exporter to an exporter of high‐value‐added services and production. FDI inflows to Costa Rica have contributed to diversify exports and allowed the country to enter new industries. FDI inflows allowed Costa Rica to take a shortcut to structural change. With it, the degree of sophistication of its exports grew significantly. The challenge is now to upgrade the types of activities performed and to create dense local clusters around these poles of export‐oriented activities. Until now, Costa Rica has effectively used FDI as a lever for economic transformation and development. In the wake of Intel’s successful move, several other world‐class companies invested in the country, contributing to the incipient development of industrial clusters in sectors such as business services, advanced Making Development Happen Attracting knowledge‐intensive FDI to Costa Rica: challenges and policy options manufacturing and medical devices. However, linkages with the domestic economy are still
limited and the density of the national innovation system is scant, with few knowledge and R&D centers and high margins to improve SME development. Costa Rica needs to tackle both domestic and international challenges to foster a deeper structural transformation that would help achieve a more stable and inclusive growth pattern. On the domestic side, Costa Rica needs to avoid the risk of dualism between the mostly foreign companies operating under the FTZ regime and the mostly domestic companies operating outside of it, as well as to strengthen the national system’s R&D and innovation capabilities. On the international side, Costa Rica needs to embrace the opportunities presented by a changing global environment favorable to new global innovation hotspots. The country needs to update and improve its FDI strategy to fully reap current opportunities and increase potential FDI spillovers to the whole domestic economy. Trade Servicing COBOS. IKO Our first trade visit in Costa Rica was at Cobos IKO facilities. This company has been 15 years in the market and is the second roof installer company in Costa Rica, they mainly installs shingles for roofing, this market represent 60% of their sales. They also sell different construction materials and they showed us a lot of different images on how they apply the roof in their different projects, such as hotels (Costa Rica RIU hotel of 25,000m2 of roofing installed, Hyatt Hotel of 36,000m2 of roofing installed). In their projects they also use I joist; since most of their projects are high‐income houses. They mentioned that in future months they will be given an award for building the roof for the Costa Rica Hyatt hotel, this award will be given to them by the Engineered development of roofing in Las Vegas Nevada. Right now they are working on a project to build 150 high‐income houses where they install roofing and use OSB and shingles. They use OSB as a base of the roofing construction from an AMSO company. They also sell to the retail market OSB and they mentioned that their clients are high income houses or builders that see the different uses and great advantages that OSB has in the roofing process that helps to regulate better the hot weather and works better with the humidity levels. They have been installing it for 10 years and they haven’t have any problem with this system They buy around 60 – 75 containers per year of OSB, shingles and lumber for the roof construction from different products. Out of that between 25‐40 are of OSB. They also mentioned that they are beginning to sell sidings and see if the market likes it or not.
They were also exhibiting at the tradeshow, they requested brochures on the USA products for roofing to have it and explain better to their clients the proper use. EL LAGAR ABONOS AGRO El Lagar, Abonos Agro is the largest lumber distributor company located in Costa Rica and for this reason on every travel to Costa Rica we visit them. They have 50 retail stores in Costa Rica. They handle different lumber from Chile, some panels from China, such as Melamine, MDF, hardboard, and plywood. They are interested to buy lumber for Wood housing construction. Their main clients are builders and also wooden posts consumers (which currently are using Chilean lumber) and would like to have quotes to buy SYP electric posts.
They also handle few OSB, Particles Boards, and plywood for furniture manufacturers mainly; they also handle lumber from Nicaragua as well as local lumber that in most of the occasions is illegal lumber. They showed interested to buy lumber to use it in wood housing construction, as well as for furniture manufacturers. They also mentioned that right now they are strong selling to builders and furniture manufacturers and post to sell it to the electricity department.
We have visited during the past 5 years and every year they change the people in charge of the lumber and panel business division. This time we met with Jimmy Azofeifa, that is the purchasing executive and will be handling all the lumber and panel purchases, they explained that they are shareholder and 5 years ago they let the control of the company to the company that bought the 50% of the company, but they did not a good job, nor they are taking the business in their hands and they are making new contacts and contacting new providers. They showed very enthusiastic that we visit them, because they lost all their material suppliers contacts and now they are beginning again to get new providers contacts. They would like to introduce new products in the Costa Rica market and make alliances with new companies and these stores are retail stores, they handle different lumber from Chile, panels from China, Melamine, MDF, hardboard, and plywood. They are interested to buy lumber for wood housing construction; their main clients are builders and also post from Chilean lumber but would like to have quotes to buy SYP electric posts. They mentioned that years ago they bought SYP grade number 4 when the Chilean lumber scared, in order to keep their clients buying from them, this lumber was for furniture manufacturers and they didn’t like it and now it is getting very difficult for them to sell this lumber. The problem was that they didn’t buy the correct grade of lumber when they bought it. They also handle a few OSB in 11 and 18 mm, which are used for walls, flooring and to
manufacture furniture. They manufacture doors and sometimes use OSB of 18 mm. They showed interested on buying Spruce for furniture and would like to have some quotes on Spruce to compete with the Radiatta Pine. MAPRO We also visited MAPRO; they are a small home depot and a family business that has been in the market for 25 years. We visited a small area that they have that is dedicated to lumber and Mr. Quesada handles it, in this area they sell everything related to lumber and panels for different purposes, but mainly for indoor applications. We were able to see lumber doors, windows and bathroom furniture. They mentioned that they have a factory that is located an hour far away from their facilities and it is of 3,000m2, in their factory they manufacture most of the furniture they sell in this store. They also mentioned that they use Mahogany, Caobilla mainly to manufacture their furniture, also veneers, finger joint panels and lumber to manufacture their panels. They would like to contact companies in USA that can sell them small pieces for the door and windows. They were also looking for plywood of bc and bb faces to use it in the furniture and doors, they mentioned that they have a lot of competition with ASIA products that sell all their products at a very low cost. They would like to receive samples of lumber, plywood and OSB to see prices, resistance, etc., to see if these products can compete in the Costa Rica market. Expo Construccion y Vivienda 2014 Tradeshow This was the 16th Edition of Expo Construcción y Vivienda, taking place from Feb 19th to the 23th. This year the tradeshow took place in its original dates compare to previous years. This tradeshow is focused on construction and was organized by the Construction Chamber of Costa Rica. The approximate amount of attendees for this tradeshow was 40,500 visitors. For the second time there was a presence of real state brokers in an auction where banks offered bank‐owned properties to the public. This year, the tradeshow had 600 booths spaces and 200 companies exhibiting in 11,000 square meters and hosted different talks about the different sustainable construction materials leaded by the Costa Rica construction chamber, there were offering around 120 different housing projects and a sustainable house. As last year’s, this tradeshow was divided in different areas. The Housing offered 46 booths, Decoration 5, Financing 13, Finishing and Construction materials 124, Machinery and Equipment 7, sustainable construction 12 and International Companies 7. We were able to see a decrease in the international companies that participated and the increase in the housing offers; this is because the low‐medium income construction is growing slowly, but in general this year there were about the same number of companies exhibiting at the tradeshow.
This year compare to other years we hire a company to manufacture our booth and had a booth exhibiting some of our lumber species and panels. A fact that brought much more attendees than in previous years and helped the people understand better the different uses of our products in different types of industries and helped the people understand better our job. Also this year we had a quite more members involved at the tradeshow exhibiting in the AMSO booth and helping giving more information to attendees. Also for the first year the tradeshow organized a series or meetings between the exhibitors and attendees and/or other exhibitors, so it will be easier to arrange meetings and help doing business in the tradeshow. This tool helped us to make new contacts in the construction and furniture manufacturer sector. Some attendees suggested us that having a series of seminars talking about the different grades and uses of SYP treated and for structural purposes as well as OSB and plywood in the wood housing sector will help us to develop better the market. This way, we will be able to get in contact with more architects, builders, engineers, and designers from Costa Rica that runs most of the construction projects in the country. During this year of the tradeshow we noticed that there were some lumber companies exhibiting that also handle hardware and construction suppliers for different sectors; such as construction, interior designers, furniture manufacturers. On top of that, some companies were offering machinery and specialty insurances. There were around 8 small‐to‐medium size lumber distributors, being the biggest one Mexichen, AMANCO, which also handles hardware stores, we tried to contact them to arrange a meeting weeks prior our visit with no reply back to us and when visited them at their booth, unfortunately we were not able to find the correct person to try to arrange a meeting for next year.
This year for their second year their biggest competitor, El Lagar was not exhibiting at the tradeshow and we visited in their facilities. We think that they are reincorporating themselves in the market with the new organization and people in charge of the business. Also there were some other companies that build wooden houses were not exhibiting at this tradeshow that in other years exhibited. They were also exhibiting other construction products, panels and lumber. In most of the cases they build
wooden houses, as well as they sell hardware materials for decoration details. Half of them build wooden houses using Chilean lumber (in some cases complaining about the softness of the Chilean lumber) and tropical species. In the tradeshow, the Costa Rica Construction Chamber as well as the Federated Architect and Engineers Association from Costa Rica were also exhibiting at the tradeshow. We
realized that there were furniture manufacturers that do a wide variety of products such as furniture, doors, windows, bathrooms, kitchens, and closets. The objective of the tradeshow was to promote the development of the construction industry in Costa Rica, promote new investments, and generate commercial transactions; for that reason, the Costa Rica Construction Chamber is the organizer of this tradeshow. During the tradeshow the most requested lumber was treated SYP for outdoors applications such as decks and wooden houses. Regarding panels, plywood, OSB were the ones that were most requested because in Costa Rica most of the houses are built with cement and few OSB was requested. HDO and MDO, Glue lams beams were also a requested material during the tradeshow. Some attendees requested lumber for their houses and in most of the cases they want to buy it in Costa Rica. Other attendees were looking for treated SYP to use it on decks. In fact, there were some an attendee that was looking for treated SYP to use it in their different projects. Some interior designers and students showed interest in learning more about lumber construction materials and attending to a lumber‐grading seminar. A few who install decks and manufacture furniture, mentioned that they mainly use tropical species. Some attendees would like to know about the different certificates that lumber has, such as the LED certificate for sustainable designs; some others showed interested on our brochures, information on wood construction and also requested more technical information and some of them suggested us to organize a series of seminars of all our products and its uses. There was a lot of interest on attending to informational seminars in Costa Rica regarding SYP grading’s and different treatments as well as the different grading panels. There were some lumber distributors that wanted to know more about US lumber species. Some others showed interested to build a second floor made up of lumber and wanted to know more about the construction materials require for it and also for wooden cabinets. Other attendees were looking for lumber options for upholstery and wanted to know about the SYP resistance. Another common interest among attendees was decking’s. Some other attendees were furniture manufacturers using Cedar, who mentioned that because this product is getting scarcer and scarcer, they now use stained Melina and tropical lumber species used to manufacture furniture. Some architects are interested in using OSB and Glue lam beams for new designs; some of them were looking new materials to use for their designs, either business or housing designs. An attendee that works for a company was looking for marine plywood, they are lumber and panels distributors, they are a medium size company and also sell construction materials A furniture manufacturer that also buys lumber and panels in Costa Rica mentioned that they handle Melina lumber; OSB and that most of the lumber that they handle come from plantations. Another furniture manufacturer that was exhibiting in our booth wanted to import SYP for decking’s and they are also furniture manufacturers and showed very interested to buy SYP for decking’s and furniture, they were exhibiting at the tradeshow.
An Architect build wooden houses with the Wood housing construction system like in USA, they would like to receive information of SYP and OSB. Another architect was interested to buy SYP for construction for wooden housing construction. A Plantation owner of Pinus Cariabea & Cupresis trees, mentioned that also has a sawmill and distribute lumber for construction and finishing materials. They handle 100% national materials in their stores, but with limited local source,for that reasson they were looking for alternative supplies. A lumber distributor visted us at the tradeshow and mentioned that they sell building materials and is interest on buying SYP for decking and furniture applications, they were exhibitors at the tradeshow. Some developers were looking for material suppliers for wood products also some other attendees were interested on flooring, decking and door materials they are interest in U.S. products. A Sawmill and lumber distributor, showed interested in Ponderosa Pine and long lengths of SYP from USA. A Melina plantation owner visited us at the tradeshow and mentioned that they manufacture of beams out of pine and that they also build moulding with Chilean pine and US Ponderosa Pine and National species. A construction material distributor that sell Chilean lumber as well as nation lumber material was looking for additional lumber suppliers. Another attendee that is a flooring company was looking for additional suppliers, some were looking for OSB to use it for subfloorings another atendee was looking for treated poles and pine lumber. Some developers visited us at the tradeshow mentioned that in their portfolio includes everything from commercial center to residential communities to even cemeteries. Currently they are working on 2 cemeteries and also they are working in the beginning stages of a 130 hector residential community in Jaco on the Central pacific Coast. There were several attendees looking for lumber to build wooden cabinets and most of them didn’t know wich type of lumber use for this purpose, so the thermites do not eat the lumber. Some others were looking for lumber to build fences out of wood.
A decking installer company, mentioned tha they are distributors of DuraLife and Fiberon, but do have request for SYP projectsa and will require to import. A contractor said that was using lumber and require information about the different applicationsof the different AMSO panel products and lumber. At the tradeshow there was an space in the open air where some students were building a
wooden house and they were using lumber for this purpose. They were building it so they can send the house to a contest in Europe. There was a variety of atendees at the tradeshow, some sell treatment products for wood, some others were looking for lumber to build a deck, some others were builders that got request for construction projects in wood and some others were looking for lumber to build wood cabinets, there were few that wanted to build second floors out of wood, most of them were looking for information and also wanted to know more about USA panels and lumber and its correct applications. During the tradeshow most of the attendees requested plywood and treated SYP, especially Glue‐lam beams and in most cases, the attendees didn’t know the different lumber characteristics and applications. We recommend participating next year in this tradeshow and also participate in the annual meeting of the Costa Rica Construction Chamber, so we can better promote better our products in Costa Rica. Recommendations and/or Accomplishments By participating at Expo Construction y Vivienda Costa Rica 2014 tradeshow, we confirmed that this tradeshow in Costa Rica is one of the biggest tradeshows for the construction sector in the Caribbean Region and the interest on using us lumber and panels is increasing year to year. We had the opportunity to get in contact with some architects, builders and lumber distributors of the Costa Rican construction sector and also confirmed that the construction in this country is mainly based on concrete and the use for lumber is focused on furniture or exteriors applications. On top of that, the market continues to not be competitive for us due to the Costa Rica‐Chilean Free Trade Agreement, which naturally makes USA products more expensive. The market does not have wooden construction specifications according to USA products. We confirmed the lack of USA panels and related construction materials information as well as lack of lumber grading. If there is strategy for competition in this market, it has to be based on quality and variety of available products, hence higher prices. If this is the main driver to penetrate this market, we recommend featuring a seminar that talks about the different panels options that we can offer as well as the lumber species and panels available, as well as its different applications and grades of all the lumber and panel products, taking advantage of the forum and disseminating the grades applications and the advantages of using USA products, among others. If there is an entrance strategy, we can conclude that we should maintain efforts in promoting American softwoods, not only in the suppliers/distributor sector or constructors, but also in certain niche markets in the construction among Architects, Engineer and lumber distributors as specified in the UES by doing activities among these market players. The fact that there is more knowledge by builders of pressure treated wood for exterior applications, OSB, MDO, HDO plywood, Glue lam beams and SYP different uses, not only for construction purposes, but can also be for outdoor uses, somehow our promotional efforts in this respect are bearing good results, and gives builders a good option of using the material as a good answer for their projects.
Key Contacts: COBOS. IKO Sergio Ruiz Bonini WWW.CBOSCR.COM Tel :22275507 MAYOREO ABONOS AGRO Jimmy Azofeifa R, Purchasing Executive Tel: 506‐ 2211 5152 FAX:506‐ 2256 8380 [email protected] MAPRO Marco Quesada Acuña, General Manager [email protected] Tel: 506‐2215‐4002 BILCO Jose Luis Soza, Provider encharged Cel:506‐89582983 Of 506‐22885051 ext 222 Fax:506‐22886042 [email protected] www.bilcocr.com Marine plywood, they are lumber and panels distributors, they are not a big company, they also sell construction materials VIVCENZIA Ivan Velasquez, latin America Director Tel:604‐440401 [email protected] They make help to contact companies to make construction business, they know all about lumber and panels from USA. They have contacts with different hotels. Muebles Torres Patricia Torres Costa Rica [email protected] They are furniture manufacturers and buy lumber and panels in Costa Rica, they handle Melina, OSB, they use lumber from plantations. Arquitect Jorge Arturo Rodriguez Costa Rica Tel:83940279 [email protected] [email protected]
They build wooden houses with the Wood housing construction system like in USA; they would like to receive information of SYP and OSB. QOO Arquitectura Arq Katia Gutirei O, General Manager Tel: 88151558 [email protected] They were interested to buy SYP for construction for wooden housing construction. XILO Ing Carlos Wiessel Baldioceda, Production Manager Tel: 22793937 c.wiessel2grupoxilo.com www.gruposilo.com Gluelam beams, interested to import lumber from USA. El Cypress Proyecto Dora Emilia Meneses Tel 83842025 [email protected] They want SUP for decking’s and they are also furniture manufacturers and showed very interested to buy SYP for decking’s and furniture, they were exhibiting at the tradeshow.
SURVEYS American Softwoods
COSTA RICA Survey (2014)
American Softwoods would appreciate your help in completing this short questionnaire. Your comments help us to plan future events and will also help us support your needs. Please hand the completed questionnaire to one of the American Softwoods executives in attendance. Name: ………..……………………………… Position: ………………………...
COUNTRY:___________________________ OCUPATION:
Company: ………………………………………………………………………………
Telephone: ……………………………… E‐mail:…………...……………………..
1. In the past year, did you use/specify any softwood LUMBER/ PANEL products?
YES ( 8 ) (GO TO Q.2) NO ( 3 ) (SKIP TO Q.4)
2. Which kind of U.S. softwood LUMBER/ PANEL products has you used/specified?
(CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)
Q.3
Lumber
SYP
Treated SYP
Ponderosa Pine
Hem fir
Douglas fir
White Pine
Spruce
Sugar Pine
9
2
Moulding and millwork
Glue‐laminated beams 1
Plywood 5
HDO
MDO
PSF
2
OSB 7
I‐joist
1
Other ___Chilean lumber Chinese panels, teak, laminated products, manufacture furniture, interested in OSB and pine for different projects, manufacture doors, material distributor, plywood resistant to water, (please specify)
4. What obstacles or difficulties, if any, do you/does your company encounter when using/specifying U.S. softwoods lumber and panel products in general? (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY) Lack of knowledge of different species/products and their uses (9)
Quality concerns with U.S. softwood and panels ( 2)
Lack of knowledge of different grades ( 7 ) Green building standards ( 1) Local building regulations – structural building codes ( 3 ) More expensive than other countries ( 2) Can’t obtain the sizes/lengths required ( 1 ) Moisture content ( 2 ) Grade/knots ( 2) Cracks/checks/splits ( 3) Distribution channel difficulties ( 1) Difficulties between real and nominal dimentions ( 1 ) Other _laminated beams_____________________ (specify) ( ) 5a. How would you describe your overall knowledge of the grading of U.S.
softwoods/softwood lumber and panel products? 5b. How would you describe your overall knowledge of the characteristics of U.S.
softwoods/softwood lumber and panel products?
5a – Grading 5b – Characteristics
CHECK ONE ONLY CHECK ONE ONLY
Excellent 2 2
Very good 1 0
Good 2 3
Fair 1 2
Poor 5 3
No knowledge 1 2
6. Following is a list of statements that people have used to describe U.S. softwood products. For each one I would like you to tell me whether you personally agree or disagree with it.
Agree Disagree Don’t Know U.S. softwood lumber and panel products….
Are easy to import ( 5 ) ( 1 ) ( 6 ) Are profitable to use ( 7) ( 0 ) ( 5 ) Are versatile/have many uses (9) ( 0) ( 2 ) Are readily available ( 3 ) ( 6) ( 1 ) Are good values for money ( 4) ( 2 ) ( 4 ) Are available in many species/varieties ( 4) ( 3 ) ( 5 ) Are environmentally friendly ( 7) ( 0) ( 3 ) Are good for structural uses ( 9) ( 0 ) ( 3) Are structurally sound ( 9 ) ( 0 ) ( 2) Are quality products ( 9) ( 0 ) (1) Are competitive against competition ( 7) (0 ) ( 3)
8. What type of information/materials could American Softwoods provide to you that would encourage you to use/specify U.S. softwood lumber and panel products more often? (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)
Contact information for US companies ( 6)
Information on the varieties of softwood products and their uses (10)
Codes/standards information (1 )
Sustainability/environmental information (3 )
Technical support ( 5)
Generic U.S. market information ( 2 )
U.S. forest industry statistics ( 3)
Other _treatment___________________________ ( )
9. Using a 5‐point scale, where a 5 is “significant” and 1 is “not at all”, thinking about all of the contact you’ve had with American Softwoods how has your knowledge and understanding of U.S. softwood lumber and panel products increased?
5 Significantly
4 3 2 1 Not at all
5 4 2 1
10. How likely are you to specify more U.S. softwood lumber and panel products as a
result of your participation/attendance at this tradeshow? Very likely (8 ) Somewhat likely ( 3 ) Neither more nor less likely ( 1 ) Not very likely ( 1 ) ( I DON’T WANT THAT MY COMPETENCE KNOW)
Not at all likely ( )
Thank you for your co‐operation
Benchmarking Survey Results.
Number of Responders % of Respondees
RANKING 1 2 3 4 5 Sum
1 2 3 4 5 Sum
1. Do you already have adequate knowledge about U.S. structural panel types, grades and uses to specify them for the correct applications for the work that your company is involved in?
4 1 5 0 3 13 30.76 7.69 38.46 0 23.07 100
2.‐ Are you aware that U.S. structural panels are available for your company’s usage?
2 4 4 1 2 13 15.38 30.76 30.26 2.69 15.38 100
3.‐Are you aware of the value that U.S. structural panels can provide to enhance your company’s business through optimal usage?
3 3 1 3 3 13 23.07
23.07 7.69 23.07 23.07 100
4.‐ Are you aware of the important role that the superior quality of U.S. structural panels can provide in enhancing your company’s business
3 3 3 1 3 13 23.07
23.07 23.07 7.69 23.07 100
5.‐ Are you aware that U.S. structural panels are good value for the money and often the most cost effective in construction systems?
3 3 4 0 3 13 23.07
23.07 30.76 0 23.07 100
6.‐ Are you aware that U.S. structural panels are recognized internationally in building codes for the crucial role they can play in building safety and demanding construction applications?
5 3 2 0 3 13 38.46 23.07 15.38 0 23.07 100
7.‐ Are you aware that U.S. structural panels are made from sustainable temperate forests, reduce carbon compared to other building materials and are environmentally friendly?
2 3 2 4 3 13 15.38 23.07 15.38 30.76
23.07 100
8.‐ Has your knowledge and understanding of U.S. structural panels and their uses increased after contact with AMSO?
2 1 4 3 3 13 15.38 7.69 30.72 23.07
23.07 100
9.‐ Has your company purchased or worked with U.S. structural panels after attending an AMSO event?
4 2 1 3 3 13 30.76 15.38 7.69 23.07
23.07 100
